Preservation
by AlsoI'mBatman
Summary: Bruce has a talk with young Dick Grayson about life and death, and what Batman and Robin stands for, and is surprised at how much the nine year old grasps the concept.


**Preservation**

Dick swung from the uneven bars onto the ground, and stuck a perfect landing.

His smile wavered when he heard two unexpected sets of applause come from behind him, when he turned around he found that Bruce and Alfred had been silently watching the end of his routine. The momentarily wavering smile changed into a dazzling grin. True to his performance habits, he paused to take two grand bows for his audience of two.

"Thank you, Gotham. I'll be performing every afternoon as soon as I get home from school!" The nine year old giggled and Bruce cracked a smile along with him.

"Nicely done, Master Dick," Alfred beamed at the boy, who blushed and gave a shy smile in return. _It is nice to see him becoming more self confident the longer he stays in the Manor,_ Alfred thought as he handed Dick a water bottle.

The young acrobat hadn't been living permanently in Gotham for to long, and it was immediately obvious that even if Dick was remarkable in Bruce and Alfred's eyes, he was constantly coming up short in his own eyes. He was quiet and polite mannered, even if he could be abuntantly energetic at times, and was always respectful. Being bullied at school also hurt his very little confidence.

_What kind of person can look into those innocent blue eyes and hurt that kid?_ Bruce always asked himself when his son came home with bruises.

Of course he didn't take into account the fact that Dick grew up in a completely different culture than the rest of the kids. Being a circus kid, or a gypsy as some of the more hurtful bullies called him, really made him stand out. Sometimes people are bullied for the simple reason that they are different, and even Batman can't stop that.

Dick's personality always seemed brightest when he was in the air. Doing acrobatics was second nature to him, as his mother told him, he was born to fly. This was the reason Bruce wasted no time in purchasing top of the line gymnastic equipment for both the upstairs gym and in the Batcave. He had currently been practicing the uneven bars in the gym upstairs.

"How was school today?" Bruce asked, concerned. The boy didn't look troubled, but Bruce had found out early on that Dick was quite an actor. He had first tried to hide his bulling problem, and succeded until the bruises started to appear.

"Fine," Dick answered sincerely,"How was work today." He gave a teasing glance to the Billionaire.

"Fine," Bruce mimicked Dick's tone and gave the boy a smile, "Any homework?" Dick shook his head.

"To tell the truth..." Dick's pause worried Bruce momentarily, "I've already learned everything they're trying to teach me in class..." He trailed off shyly.

"Even after we had you moved up a few grade levels?"

Dick gave another shy nod. Bruce put a hand on Dick's shoulder and started slowly walking toward the hallway after he saw Alfred move that way. They continued their conversation on the way to the kitchen table, where Alfred had made lunch.

"You could take another test, then we could place you in a grade more fitting," Bruce beamed at his son. He was proud, Dick was flying by all of his classes and never needed help on any of the questions, he really did deserve to be moved up.

After they finished dinner both Bruce and Dick headed down to the Batcave. Bruce searched the surviellance footage of some of the more crime-dense areas of Gotham, while Dick flipped through an adventure book he'd gotten at the library.

Bruce flinched when he saw an old man get hit by a crowbar on the screen. The surveillance was from the night before. He couldn't do anything as he saw the old man get robbed, but was relieved when the criminal left after stealing from him. He saw the old man continue hesitantly on his way with a sigh of relief.

"What makes a human being capable of killing another human being?"

Bruce looked behind him to see Dick where he was sitting in one of the recliners. He had a book resting on his knees, but was peaking over it, and had apparently been watching the screen as Bruce had been.

"Why do you ask that, Dick?" _What a question for a nine year old to ask... _Bruce thought with a wince.

"Well the criminal didn't kill that old man, but some criminals would have. So I guess my question is... why?"

Bruce pondered the question momentarily, Dick waited patiently for a response.

"Well truthfully I'm not sure. I mean of course you know that that is my number one rule: no killing. So I don't know if I would even be capable of it, definately not if the person was innocent, like the old man," he gestured toward the screen,"I don't know how someone could ever take another person's life..."

Dick and Bruce both knew what it felt like to have people they loved ripped away from them by a murderer.

"Preservation of life is our goal right?" Dick questioned slowly, "As Batman and Robin I mean," he added.

Bruce stared at Dick for a moment before answering. _He manages to amaze me every day. How can he grasp a complex subject involving death when he's still legally obligated to have a booster seat when we ride in the car?_

"You're absolutely right."

"I never wanted it to be about vengence. I just wanted to make sure no other kid had to lose their parents, like... like _I_ did." A muscle in Bruce's cheek twitched at Dick's words. _He's so much like __me__._

"Well, like _we_ did," Dick added quietly, Bruce gave a solemn nod,"So I guess my question is, what makes some people, people like us, try to preserve life, while others destroy it?"

Bruce once again pondered the question before answering out loud.

"I think something has to spark. For example, you and me, we lost people very close to us, we made the choice to make the world a better place. Others, criminals, they have a spark, an event in their lives, but they make the wrong choice."

Dick nodded and smiled, satisfied with the answer, and Bruce smiled back.

"You're beginning to become a philosopher," Bruce joked.

**()()()()()()()**

**The Next Morning.**

After the talk in the Batcave the Dynamic Duo went on patrol. Bruce couldn't stop thinking about the words his young ward had spoken. _'I never wanted it to be about vengence. I just wanted to make sure no other kid lost their parents...'_

He continued smiling quietly to himself all night as he turned the conversation over in his mind. Even as he lay awake in bed he continued thinking. _'Preservation of life is our goal as Batman and Robin.'_

_ I like that. Not vengence, not revenge, or anger, or even Justice. Just preservation._

He was still pondering as he chewed his morning toast, when he saw Dick pass the kitchen, holding something in his hand. He got up slowly and followed the direction he had gone, out of curiousity. When he reached Dick out in the entrance he noticed what the boy was holding in his hand: a newspaper.

"Whatcha doing, Dick?" He asked casually. Dick looked up from the newspaper he was holding and gave Bruce a quick smile.

"One second." he continued walking and opened the front door. Bruce followed him onto the front porch, and when he examined the newpaper closely as Dick set it gently on the ground, he could see that there was a rather large spider resting just above the title. Dick lifted the newspaper when the spider crawled off and walked back inside cheerfully.

_He was letting the spider outside? Hmm, I probably would've just hit it with a shoe..._

"Sorry, what did you need?" Dick asked once they had both gotten inside and closed the door.

"I was just wondering what you were doing," Bruce said with amusement.

"Oh Alfred found a spider in the Study, so I told him I'd take it outside for him."

"Instead of just killing it?"

"It's a living thing too. Why would I kill it?" Dick gave Bruce a confused look. Bruce's heart melted with the innocence in the question.

"I guess your right Dickie," Bruce smiled, "Let's go have some breakfast."

_Quite the philosopher indeed..._ Bruce mused to himself.


End file.
